Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has imposed a 24-hour curfew across three Local Government Areas (Bassa, Jos North, and Jos South) in Jos after the gruesome herdsmen attack.
22 unarmed travelers returning from an event in Bauchi state met their untimely death in violence that erupted along Rukuba road axis of Jos. 17 were injured and 27 are still missing. The unfortunate incident occurred around 9.45 a.m. when passengers travelling in five vehicles from Bauchi to Ikale in Ondo State ran into a procession conveying corpses of those killed in Irigwe, Bassa Local Government Area last week, for mass burial. The travellers, who were not privy to the happening, ran into the convoy and some irate youths who were among the sympathisers descended on the five buses, killed a number of them, the majority of whom were Hausa/Fulani, based in Ondo State.
The state government said it was concerned about “the persisting tensions and reported attempts by some persons to take the laws into their hands by threatening to attack individuals and private facilities, as well as public property.”
In a statement by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu regarding the incident, President Muhammadu Buhari said:
“However, to be clear, this is not an agriculturalist-on-pastoralist confrontation – but rather a direct, brazen and wickedly motivated attack on members of a community exercising their rights to travel freely and to follow the faith of their choosing. With the evident preparedness of their attackers, it is clear this was a well-conceived and pre-arranged assault on a known target, location and religious persuasion of the travellers; not an opportunist ambush.
“The Presidency offers condolences to the families of the victims and continues to liaise closely with the local authorities – including security, the police, and governmental agencies”.
